


A Boy and His Shark

by EzzyDean



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-18 20:05:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 20,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2360585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyDean/pseuds/EzzyDean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SouRin drabbles for your heart.  Unconnected unless stated otherwise.  Mostly fluff.  (Occasional MakoSouRin.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Weight of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> maudlin-memoirs asked: if you're doing fic requests still, would you do 5 and 23 with SouRin?   
> 5 & 23 - holding hands & weight of the world

Most of their stuff has been in kind of a limbo spot between Samezuka and their parents’ homes for weeks.  They still have a few classes and general school activities left so they have some stuff at the dorms.  But most of their things are packed away in boxes and bags in their parents’ hallways and in their childhood bedroom.  When the time finally comes they gather the last few boxes of stuff from Sousuke’s parents’ house and Sousuke refuses to let go of his hand.  From the doorway down to his parent’s car.  They sit in the backseat with boxes on their laps and their hands together on the seat.  Sousuke slides out after Rin when they get there.  He keeps Rin’s fingers twined around his own up the stairs and into the apartment.  He lets go long enough to give his mom and dad a hug goodbye and promises to call if he needs anything, and to call even if he doesn’t.  As soon as the door is shut he’s holding Rin’s hand and they walk the small apartment together.

He keeps Rin within arm’s reach through unpacking some things, Rin insists on unpacking a box of his own stuff that he was leaving there so that it would all be in the right place, and a quick meal.  He lets go so they can shower and settle into his bed, hands linked once more.

"You can always stay," Sousuke whispers.  He means it, but he doesn’t.  He’s never held Rin back before and he won’t start now.  A smile slips onto his lips when he feels Rin press a kiss to their clasped hands.

"I know."

—

Rin refuses to let go of his hand.  Taking the train further into the city, fingers tight around Sousuke’s, side by side ignoring any stares.  They step off the train into a bustle of people and Rin keeps Sousuke close.  There’s a bag on each of their shoulders - Sousuke wanted to grab them both but Rin stared pointedly at him and his shoulder until Sousuke submitted and handed one over - and the weight of their lives hovering over them.  Rin leads the way towards his gate and they stop, staring out the large windows at the plane.  Sousuke’s fingers tighten around Rin’s and they both smile at each other.

Rin had said his goodbyes to everyone else back at the apartment and it was just them here.

"You can always come with," Rin says, tears threatening to spill over even as he swallows hard to keep his emotions in check.  Sousuke smiles; he can, and he can’t.  He can’t be a burden to Rin, can’t let Rin be the one to drag him towards his future.  They each have their own paths to take for awhile.  No mater how hard it is now that they’ve found each other again.

"I know."  Even if they both know it, that doesn’t make it any easier.  

Rin keeps their fingers twined together as he buries his head against Sousuke’s chest, waiting until the last possible moment to pull back, plant a hard kiss to his lips, and hurry onto the plane without looking back.

Sousuke clenches and unclenches his fingers as the plane takes off and bites his cheek to keep his own tears away.  His jaw aches by the time he finally wanders out of the airport and catches the train back towards his apartment.  Their apartment, technically, even though Rin won’t be around to use it much.

—

Each time Rin comes back he leaves something behind.  Even if he can only make it for a few days he still manages to leave the apartment feeling a little more like home for Sousuke by the time he’s gone again.  A book, a souvenir, a scarf, a shirt.  Sousuke finds little pieces of Rin, of the life they have now and the one they have promised for the future, scattered through the small apartment when he drags himself back from the airport each time.  Each visit is another step closer to them being together.

He’s patient.  He understands that the others miss Rin just as much as he does, just in different ways.  So he does his best not to monopolize his visits if for no other reason than because he is always the one Rin comes home to and each time Rin comes home Sousuke feels like another weight is being lifted off his shoulders.

—

Sousuke is lounging on the couch half asleep when he hears the door open.  He’s instantly alert and confused; Gou and Sousuke’s parents are the only ones with extra keys to the place and none of them had mentioned stopping by.  Keys drop to the small shelf next to the door and he hears a pair of shoes kicked off then a thump of a heavy bag.  He peeks his head around the corner and freezes.

Rin’s smile is as breathtaking as always and Sousuke’s chest hurts when their eyes meet.

"Rin?"  Sousuke’s sure he looks like a fool, mouth hanging open and hair messy from his nap, but Rin is looking at him like he’s never seen anything better.

"I’m home."  The tears well up in Rin’s eyes and Sousuke has him in his arms before the first one can even slip down his cheek.

"Welcome home."  Sousuke breathes in and all he can smell is Rin and when he lets his breath out it feels like all the weight is gone from his chest.  "Finally."


	2. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: SouRin 23. weight of the world *w*)

When Rin leaves, boards the plane to Australia, Sousuke is watching.  Rin doesn’t know he’s there, doesn’t see the weight of the world settling over Sousuke’s shoulders, the set of his jaw as the plane takes off.  It’s only a week but it might as well be forever.  They were going to go home together for a week.  Spend some time goofing off, relaxing.  Sousuke was going to spend the night with Rin and Gou a couple times, watch bad movies and throw popcorn at each other until they all fell asleep on the couch.  At least that was what Sousuke had planned.  But Rin, like always, had his own plans and Sousuke, like always, wasn’t going to try to hold him back.

So he reads his messages from Rin, replies to a few of them even.  Gets together with Gou once or twice.  He spends the week being babied by his parents.  By the time the week comes to an end and Rin is reaching the airport Sousuke is ready to go back to school.  Back to classes and practice - even if he couldn’t participate he could watch and offer suggestions and help keep the rest of the team under control - and sharing a room with Rin.  

Hell he could be honest with himself he was just ready to get back to Rin in general.  Waking up to Rin getting ready for a jog.  Coming back from classes to see Rin sprawled out on his bunk.  Having meals together and just goofing off.  He had survived years apart from him but just after having a few months together and now a week feels like eternity.

He debates very briefly about meeting Rin at the airport.  That idea is gone nearly as quickly as it pops up.  Rin would get upset for treating him like a child or something and if he found out the real reason then Sousuke would never hear the end of it.  So he simply headed back to Samezuka.

He’s sprawled on the bottom bunk when Rin finally comes in.  He’s already fended off welcome back greetings from Ai and Momo, returned three texts to Gou about Rin not being back yet and promising that they’ll both get a good night’s sleep, and put away his clothes.

Rin pushes the door open and tosses his bag onto Sousuke’s stomach with a grin.  ”Miss me?”  He toes off his shoes and hangs his jacket on the back of a chair, frowning when Sousuke doesn’t answer him.  He sets his bag on the floor and nudges him with his knee.  ”Hey you asleep down there?  I asked if you missed me.”

Sousuke catches his wrist and yanks him onto the bed, pulling Rin against his chest and curling himself around Rin’s back with a sigh.  He takes a couple deep breaths, breathing in Rin’s scent and nuzzling at the back of his neck.  ”Sousuke?”

"Of course I missed you," he says.  Then he presses a kiss to the back of Rin’s neck.  Rin’s breath catches.  "Welcome home Rin."

The weights lift from his shoulders, tension draining away as Rin settles back against Sousuke’s chest.  ”I’m home Sousuke.”


	3. Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: Sourin and 27 please?  
> 27 - happy birthday

The way Rin is bouncing on the balls of his feet and fidgeting you’d think that it was his birthday they were discussing.  ”Rin,” Sousuke says as he studies the ceiling of their dorm and pretends not to notice his roommate nearly vibrating in his excitement.

"Sousuke."

"No."

"Come on.  Don’t you want to do something for your birthday?"

"I do."

"And?"

"I’m doing it."  Rin frowns and climbs halfway up the ladder to drop his chest onto Sousuke’s bunk with a huff.  "No, Rin."  Sousuke replies before Rin can even open his mouth.  "I want a day to relax.  No going out.  No parties.  Nothing big.  I want to sleep and listen to music and not be bothered."

"Oh so I’m a bother?"  Sousuke laughs and gently pushes his pillow into Rin’s face until he hops off the ladder.  "I see how it is."

"Yeah yeah yeah.  You know how I feel about your particular brand of bothering me."  This time Rin laughs as he slips his shoes on and grabs his jacket.

"That I do.  Can I at least present you a cake or a gift or something?  Or is that doing too much?"  

Sousuke rolls over and glances down at Rin with a smile.  ”From you?  I think I can handle it.”  The smile that brightens Rin’s face is more than enough of a gift for Sousuke, but he can’t tell Rin that even though he’s sure it’s practically written on his face.  Rin leaves and he’s left alone in solitude.  He slips his headphones in, turns his music on, and closes his eyes, content to spend his birthday lost in his own thoughts.

He wakes up, warm and content, with Rin curled up beside him.  Rin stirs when he pulls his headphones out and tosses his mp3 player to the end of the bed.  ”Happy Birthday Sou,” he says with a sleepy grin as he presses an equally sleepy kiss to Sousuke’s cheek.  Sousuke settles Rin against his chest and kisses the top of his head.

"Thank you."


	4. Sunlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: 25, SouRin  
> 25 - sunlight

Sousuke stretches and rolls over onto his back, arms hanging off the bed as he settles, laughing when his actions earn him a groan.  ”You’re like a giant cat.  Get off.”  Rin’s fingers poke his side through the blanket and he simply wiggles a little and lets out a loud content sigh.  ”Seriously.  I can barely breath down here.”  The poking increases in strength and he winces when Rin’s fingers catch a rib.  This time it’s Rin laughing as he pokes at the rib again and Sousuke goes to roll away and ends up shifting himself off the bed instead.

"That wasn’t very fair," he mutters.

"Yeah but you still managed to be graceful about it.  Somehow."  He watches as Sousuke simply stretches onto his back in a patch of sunlight with a content smile like that had been his goal the whole time.  "You really are a big cat."  Sousuke reaches up and runs his knuckles along Rin’s cheek.

"Then I guess it’s a good thing you’re a cat person," he says with a smile that Rin returns easily.

"I guess so."


	5. Broken Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: Sourin 16  
> 16 - broken wings

Sousuke opens his arms wide and takes a deep breath, embracing the sunlight and fresh air and for a moment Rin stops breathing because standing here squinting at Sousuke’s form with the sun rising behind it he’s suddenly hit with the overwhelming sensation of just how  _alive_  they both are.  How free they are despite their limitations and the fleeting moments of summer rushing past them.  How things could have been so, so much worse.  Sousuke glances over his shoulder to say something and freezes at the sight of tears on Rin’s cheeks.  He had once told himself he would never be the reason for Rin’s tears but he’s broken that vow so many times he’s surprised Rin still puts up with him.

He doesn’t even say anything, just walks over and wipes away the tears with his thumbs before pulling Rin into a hug.  Rin hangs on as if Sousuke is going to fly away or disappear and he laughs softly at the irony of that thought.  Hard to soar away through the skies of their future with a broken wing but if Rin is willing to stick by his side he thinks he’ll be okay with simply floating along for now.


	6. Amnesia Pt1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: SouRin #18  
> 18\. waking up with amnesia au  
> (angst ahead)

"It’s to be expected."

"You’re lucky to have even survived it."

"Those who make it back rarely gain all their memories again."

"It will take time."

The doctors all say the same things.  It’s a miracle he’s even alive and, more or less, fully functional.  He can’t seem to remember a damn thing about who he is or what he’s done in the past.  But he remembers the basics of living.  How to cook food, dress himself, take care of himself.  He’s a lot better off than most of the people who ever come back from that side.  When he’s finally cleared to return to “normal life” he’s shipped out of the hospital and left alone in a large loft apartment that he feels like he should know, if for no other reason than they said it was his home.  Not his new home or temporary home but  _his_  home.  Like he was supposed to be here.

But it felt…. empty.  He has no idea how it was possible to feel like he was missing something when he couldn’t even remember what he was supposed to have here.  But he knew it was red.  Not red red like blood.  He’d seen enough blood to last him a couple lives.  Maybe red like wine?  That felt right.  Wine in just the right light, soft and silky against his fingers.  But that didn’t make sense at all.  Wine is liquid and wet, like blood, not soft and silky like sheets clenched in fists.

Why clenched fists and sheets?

He knows logically that running his mind in circles will just make it worse, make it harder to cope and recover.  But he can’t sit still, can’t stay stationary in the too empty room filled with knick-knacks that don’t feel like him and no pictures.  Why aren’t there any pictures?  The memory of taking pictures isn’t there, exactly, but the idea of taking pictures feels so right that he finds himself searching through the bookcases, the boxes, the closet for even a single photograph.

Nothing.  Nothing.  Not a damn thing anywhere.  Even if he can’t remember his past why isn’t there anything here to try and remind him?  There are knick-knacks and souvenirs scattered about, shirts with insignia that could be from something important, but nothing personal.  No pictures.  No diaries.  Nothing to actually connect him to his past.

He sits at his kitchen table and stares gloomily at the chair across from him.  It’s empty but he knows it shouldn’t be.  Wine red silken threads weave through every fiber of his being but he doesn’t know why.

He may have came back from the other side but he’s starting to think that his memories aren’t the only thing that got left there.


	7. Amnesia Pt2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow up to previous chapter. Still mildly angsty.

Red wine paints his dream and he wakes with a jolt and a name lingering on his lips.  ”Rin.”  It’s the right name and somehow it feels even better on his lips than the one they told him was his own feels in his heart.  That’s what was left over there.  More important than every memory he knows is locked away.  More important than even the comfort of his own name.

"Sousuke" can forever remain a stranger’s name in his mind if he can just get back to "Rin."  He still can’t remember anything.  No idea who the name belongs to or why they have such a presence in his life.  No idea why their name tastes like wine on his lips and feels like home in his heart.  He’s lost, so damn lost, adrift in the roiling sea of his own mind no anchor to ground him and no compass to lead him to safety.  Rin is always on his mind, his dreams are fleeting landscapes of wine red silk tying him binding him blinding him, and he can feel the thread of reality slipping from his grasp like grains of sand.

So he gives in and lets Rin take him.  Take him back to where he needs to be.

The building is just a building - brick and steel and glass rising to the sky alongside it’s neighbors - but he knows.  He knows that this is where he lost himself.  This is where the very essence of who he was had been left behind and only a shell had returned from.  He pushes inside, sees gazes all around sharpen in recognition of his wide shoulders and angry teal eyes, sees the wariness flash over the faces behind the desk in the center of the room.  Sees wine red painting his vision and fighting to surpass the blood red rage that sweeps through his veins.  Rage he doesn’t fully understand the source of but he embraces anyways.  It fits him better than the bleak nothingness that has been plaguing his body for months now.

He leans heavily on the desk and leans over them.  His size has always intimidated the people here; he doesn’t know how he knows it but it feels true so he looms over them and watches their faces drain of color when he says one word, one name that tastes sweet and feels like heaven.

"Rin."


	8. Look At Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: SouRin "Tell me, why do I still hope you'll notice me when you always look right over my shoulder?"  
> (angst again)

Rin was doing that thing again.  That thing Sousuke hated more than anything else.  That thing where they’re talking or laughing or just sitting quietly and Rin’s eyes look past Sousuke’s shoulder and get this kind of intense look to them.  Like he’s staring the future into submission or something.  Sousuke’s not entirely sure when it started, sometime back when they were younger he knows that much, sometime before Rin changed schools for his new team, his new teammates.  But sometime close to that too.  Sousuke hadn’t been able to understand back then, even with as well as he and Rin understood each other, just what exactly Rin was looking at and why it made a bubble of fear rise in his throat.

Now.  Well now he knows.  It’s Rin looking at his future; a future so bright and full of promise it hurts Sousuke to even glance at it, at him.  It hurts but he still watches Rin.  Watches the way his eyes start to dim and focus in on him when he comes out of it.  Watches the way his smile slips into place and he tilts his head a little to talk to Sousuke.  Watches the way he dims himself to come back to him.

Sousuke might not be able to charge with him into that sunny future but that didn’t mean Rin had to dull himself to stay here with Sousuke.  But still every time Rin’s eyes would slip past his shoulder - and it was always his right one and that just made it harder - Sousuke would have a brief moment of hope that this time he would look at Sousuke with that intensity, that fire, that passion.  That maybe this time he would see Sousuke in the same light that Sousuke always saw him.

Maybe this time.  Maybe this time.  Maybe this time.


	9. Adoption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: Prompt: Sourin adopting a pet together

Cats.

Of course it would be cats.

It’s not like he had anything against them.  Not like he hated them.  He just didn’t really get along with them and the feeling appeared to be mutual.  Exception being the giant cat he lived with named Rin.  But when he tells Rin this he just gets that unreadable fond smile of his and a light shake of the head.

 

"I already have you why do I need another cat?"  Rin laughs at the dejected look on Sousuke’s face.

"Aw come on, don’t pout just because you lost."

"You cheated."

"I did no such thing," Rin grins and tugs Sousuke along the sidewalk towards the pet shop.  "Besides if you really disliked cats you wouldn’t go along with it no matter what."

That’s not quite true.  It’s more like Sousuke likes seeing Rin happy a whole hell of a lot more than he dislikes dealing with cats.  But Rin has already opened the door of the pet shop and rushed in like a child getting his first pet.  Which, now that Sousuke stops and thinks about it, is true.  He glances around as Rin immediately heads towards the cats.  He lets Rin go and play and coo while he wanders around and picks up the stuff he knows they’ll need regardless of the cat they get.  Litter, litter box, toys, some more toys because he  _knows_  Rin and knows the first batch will be opened and lost in a matter of days, brush, other various odds and ends of cat ownership.  He’s thumbing through a book,  _Your Cat and You: A Guide to Understanding Your Feline Friend_ , when he hears a chorus of mews from behind him.

"Rin," he says as he sees his boyfriend standing there with three kittens in his arms.  "We said a cat.  Not three."

"They’re siblings, Sou.  We can’t split them up.  Look at them.  Can you say no to these faces?"  Rin brings his arms up so the kittens are just below his chin and Sousuke sighs.  The face he can’t say no to is smiling hopefully at him, too long lashes sweeping against pale cheeks as Rin looks from the kittens to him and back again and Sousuke sighs.

"Fine," he gives in and turns back to find the kitten food and add it to the cart.

They spent way more than he had anticipated on these little balls of fluff and he frowns at the receipt as Rin excitedly hurries around the apartment and places everything.  The litter box, the food dish, the cat tower, this and that and “Oh Sousuke can you grab that kitten before it sneaks into the cupboard.”  Sousuke nabs the gray and white fluff and holds it in one hand.  He wanders into the living room and gives Rin an unimpressed look when he spots him sprawled on his back with the other two fluffballs, one almost all a dark gray color and the other an orange and white mix, on his chest.

"Aren’t they so cute?"  Rin practically coos as he rubs gently at one sleeping kitten.  Sousuke deposits the kitten in his hand onto Rin’s chest with it’s siblings and drops onto the couch.

"We’ll you’re cute so I guess the whole picture is pretty cute."

It’s been three weeks and Rin still refuses to tell Sousuke what he named them.  But despite that he seems to have become one of them or something.  They love crawling on him and playing with his hands and sleeping piled up on his chest or legs.  Due to lack of proper names Sousuke refers to them as Little Shits One, Two, and Three.  Three, the light gray one, seems to enjoy trying to climb his pant legs in an attempt to reach the bathroom sink while he brushes his teeth.  Two, the orange one, spends a lot of time chasing Three around and playfully dragging it from room to room.  One, the moodiest of the three, likes to crawl onto his chest when he stretches on the couch after work and waits for Rin to come home.

They’re waiting like that, One curled up on his chest kneading at his shirt, when Rin walks in late.  He takes a second to meet the disapproving look from cat and man alike and doubles over laughing.  ”What’s so funny?”  Sousuke rumbles from the couch as Two runs out from the kitchen to sniff at Rin’s ankles and Three watches with mild interest from the back of the couch.

"It’s just," Rin takes a deep wavering breath and wipes tears from his eyes, "they’re names are pretty perfect."

"Gonna tell me what they are?"

"Swear we can keep them no matter what?"

"Well they haven’t ruined anything yet and our neighbors haven’t complained about them meowing too loudly.  So I guess they can stay."

Rin tosses his jacket over a chair in the kitchen and comes back to sit on the couch.  Normally he’d drop onto Sousuke and use his chest for a pillow but the kittens have taken over that spot lately so he settles for dropping himself in between Sousuke’s legs.  Two hops up and immediately settles into Rin’s lap with a mewl and Rin smiles.  ”Well this is Koko and that one,” he points to Three who is trying to play fight with Sousuke’s fingers, “is Mack.”

"Koko and Mack?"  Sousuke raises an eyebrow.  "What’s their actual names?"  Rin blushes and mumbles as Three, or Mack, slips and rolls down onto Sousuke’s chest.  "What?"

"Mackerel and Mako."  Sousuke stares as the blush on Rin’s face slowly crawls up to his ears.  "Shut up," he snaps and turns away with a pout.

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were thinking something."

"I was thinking you’re adorable."  Sousuke feels a little weird that the kitten he liked best was named after Nanase, of all people.  Then he thinks about the two kitten’s personalities and can’t help but think that Rin picked good names for them.

Another few weeks later they finally realize that Mako is a girl cat.  It doesn’t change anything since they both call her Koko almost all the time anyway.  Mack is all boy cat and he happily flops onto his back to show anyone.  One, who Rin still refuses to tell Sousuke the name of, is also female and still spends most of the time possible curled up on Sousuke’s chest.  He’s actually surprised to wake up late one Saturday morning and not see her sleeping there.  Rin growls behind him and he freezes when he hears him.

"Sou you damn cat stop sleeping on my face."  Sousuke slowly turns over with the biggest grin on his face and it’s Rin turn to freeze.

"You named it Sou?  That’s adorable," Sousuke coos and pulls Rin to him, gently shooing the cat from the bed.  She gives him a disdainful stare before turning and walking out like it was her idea to leave in the first place.  Rin hides his face in Sousuke’s shoulder and shakes his head.  "She seems to like sitting on your face."  Rin tenses and starts to pull away but Sousuke keeps him snug against him.  "Which is fitting since I like to sit on your-"

"SOUSUKE!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ([here’s a pic of the kittens](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DvV1TcBafIQ/T-GcQK6vQpI/AAAAAAAAAJM/V5fLhmoT8Q4/s1600/three-little-kittens-marmalade-calico-grey.jpg))
> 
> (Fun fact: Rin names the last one Sou cause it has the same judging stare that Sousuke uses to intimidate people)


	10. Be Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this pic](https://31.media.tumblr.com/3aadecaa29c2fe38548f51f8d08c994a/tumblr_naqewpEkQ01rohb0lo1_500.jpg)

Rin already expects Sousuke to be asleep when he gets in.  That last text from him was almost an hour ago after all.  He pulls his hair tie off and ruffles his hair; he’s still a little sweaty from his jog but he can just shower in the morning.  Right now all he wants to do is crawl into bed and sleep.  Which will be easier said than done he realizes as he notes Sousuke lying on the bottom bunk with his hand dangling off the edge, cell phone still curled in it.  Rin peeks at the screen and rolls his eyes at the unsent message.

[ _Be safe.  Miss you._ ]

Sousuke always worried about him when Rin went out for jogs at night.  Not because he felt Rin was in danger or anything but because it’s easier to misjudge a step in the dark.  Easier to miss a rock on the path or a crack in the sidewalk.  Which is why he usually insisted on coming with.  But he was still recovering from the “flu of doom” that had made it’s way through the swim team - Rin and Momo had been the only ones safe from it somehow - and Rin had refused to let him come with.

Rin strips out of his damp jogging outfit and tosses it onto the pile of clothes near the corner.  They had stopped bothering to separate their dirty clothes a couple week into being roommates since it was easier just to wash them all together and sort it out later.  He digs a pair of light sleep pants from his side of the closet and slips them on.  If he’s going to be asleep in the same bed as Sousuke he doesn’t want a lot of layers.  Sousuke was a fricken heater when he was healthy and the flu had turned him into a temporary furnace which meant Rin had been just as likely to wake up sweating as Sousuke had.  Because Sousuke was worse than Rin when sick and didn’t ask for cuddling and companionship he demanded it and, either way, Rin was willing to oblige.

He doesn’t even bother trying to get Sousuke to move over, the guy was a boulder when he fell asleep, and simply lets out a sigh and crawls into the space between Sousuke and the wall.  He feels around for the wire of his charger and plugs his phone in, setting his alarm as quiet as he can and still hear it in the morning, and drops it on the bed above his pillow.  Sousuke mumbles something and nuzzles his face into Rin’s pillow, the one Rin usually cuddles with, and finally stops moving when his face is turned towards Rin.  Rin rolls his eyes and yanks the blankets up to their chests.

He can feel Sousuke’s warm breath across his cheek as he listens to the steady inhale and exhale.  ”Missed you too,” he whispers before snuggling closer and wrapping his arm around Sousuke’s back.

Sousuke wakes up the next morning, arm numb from hanging off the bunk all night, and is confused.  Not about where he is.  He remembers sprawling out on Rin’s bunk while he went for a jog and then getting steadily sleepier as he texted him.

He’s used to falling asleep on Rin’s bunk.  He sometimes just doesn’t feel like making the short climb to his own.  Rin doesn’t mind.  But Rin also never lets him  _stay_  in his bed.  The exception being those couple nights while he had been sick when he literally couldn’t climb up to his bunk for fear of passing out on the way up.  But he’s not sick anymore, hasn’t had a fever for two solid days, and he’s still waking up in Rin’s bed.  With Rin curled up beside him.

The alarm above his head startles him and he groans at the clenching and prickling of his arm coming back to life as he rolls onto his side and stares at the desk while Rin flops his arm around trying to grab his phone.  When the alarm is finally shut off Rin grumbles and buries his head between Sousuke’s shoulders, arm coming back to drop over his waist.

"I can’t feel my fingers," Sousuke grumbles.

"Next time you fall asleep on my bed don’t leave your arm hanging off it," Rin replies.  Then he yawns and Sousuke shivers at the sensation between his shoulders.  "Oi no getting sick again."  Rin reaches down around their thighs and yanks the blanket back up, tucking it under Sousuke and snuggling himself even closer.


	11. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: I kind of need something sad and heart wrenching right now. So how about writing something for 71 and 66 with SouRin?  
> 71 - broken 66 - rain  
> (angst ahead)

"I don’t care Sousuke," Rin hisses as tears run down his cheek.  Sousuke’s face, like usual, is blank and dry.  Almost frighteningly detached from what is happening.  "I don’t fucking care if you’re broken.  It doesn’t matter to me."

"It does to me," Sousuke snaps back.   "There’s no point if I can’t swim.  I’m no good to you.  I’m no good for you.  I can’t compete with you.  I can’t practice with you.  Can’t stand beside you.  Can’t push you forward.  All I can do is weigh you down and get in your way."  Sousuke looks away from the window to give Rin a sour smile.  "All I can do is watch you leave."

"Is that why you didn’t tell me?  Because you were afraid I’d leave?"

"Not like you have the greatest track record of staying where I am."  Rin frowns at Sousuke’s sudden quiet tone.  "I’ve basically lost my swimming.  I just didn’t want to lose my best friend again too."

Sousuke shuts the door quietly as he leaves Rin to wipe idly at the tears still running down his cheeks.  ”Fuck you Sousuke,” he murmurs as he curls up on his bed, pillow clutched tight to his chest.  

The worst part, the part that’s like some kind of sick joke, is that he can’t even blame Sousuke for his line of thinking.  Rin has been the most selfish kind of friend imaginable and he doesn’t have a clue how to fix that.

—

Sometimes when the rain hit the glass, turned the outside world into a shimmer of color, Sousuke was reminded of Rin.  Reminded of the way the tears on his cheeks glistened even in the shadow of the bunk bed.  Reminded of the way the drops slid down his cheeks.  Reminded of the way he walked out on his best friend.

Sometimes he would stand outside in it until he was soaked clean through and his joints ached and his hair was plastered to his face.  Stand outside until he stopped crying, until the only drops on his face were once again raindrops.

Sometimes he selfishly wished that the rain would just wash away the world and he could have a clean slate, a chance to go back and take his hand off the doorknob and settle himself onto Rin’s bunk.  A chance to go back and hide his head in the crook of Rin’s neck and just let it all out.  To sob and curse and lament the way things happened.


	12. 5 Times Nagisa Was A Terrible Spy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: Prompt: Sousuke and Rin are hanging out together (they don't want to admit it's a date) going to the arcade, eating at a restaurant, etc Iwatobi high members spots them, and Nagisa becomes suspicious (and curious) that it's a date so he forces everyone to stalk the two.

**1 Nagisa and Rei**   

They’re seated at a little cafe just outside the mall waiting patiently for their drinks when Sousuke suddenly scoots his chair around the edge of the little table and leans in close to whisper in Rin’s ear.  “You realize we’re being watched, right?”  Rin leans away a little and then shakes his head.  He hadn’t noticed anything.  “Blonde fluffy head and weird red glasses.  They belong to you right?”

“Sousuke,” Rin laughs, “you know you can be friends with my friends too.”

“I don’t know that I want to.  I’ve met the blonde one.  He kind of scares me.”

“Someone half your size scares you?”

“Someone who routinely looks like he spends half his time mentally dissecting me and tallying the worth of my organs on the black market scares me.  Yes.”  Their drinks arrive and Rin rolls his eyes.

“You are so weird.”

“I am not.  You’re weird.  You have weird friends.”

“Aren’t you my friend?”  Sousuke opens his mouth to reply and then shuts it again.  He gives Rin a look that says Rin has won for now because Sousuke really has no comeback.  Rin is polite enough not to comment on that.  Or on the fact that Sousuke’s chair is still right next to Rin’s and their shoulders are pressed together.

“Do you see that Rei-chan?  Rin-chan and Sou-chan are totally on a date!”

“Nagisa-kun why are we hiding behind a bush?  I’m sure they can see us.”

“They can see us cause you’re not trying hard enough to hide.”

“I don’t even know why I’m hiding in the first place!  Even if they are on a date why does it matter?”

“Rin-chan is a precious person and needs to be protected.”

“I think it’s time to go home now.”

“No look!  They’re laughing and sitting way too close.  This matter needs to be investigated further.  What do you think Detective Ryugazaki?”  Rei’s fingers twitch a little and he almost,  _almost_ , lets himself be drug into Nagisa’s little fantasy.  Then his phone buzzes with a text from his parents wondering if he was bringing Nagisa for dinner or if he was staying with his friend.

“I think it’s time to head back or we’ll be late for dinner.  You know how my parents are.”  Nagisa pouts but lets himself get pulled away.

 **2 Nagisa and Makoto and Haru**   

“Okay Nagisa.  We’re here.  What’s the emergency?”  Makoto looks around but doesn’t spot anything amiss in the arcade.  But this was Nagisa so looks could be deceiving.

“Haru-chan!  Mako-chan!”  Nagisa leaps out from behind the crane machine he was near and tugs them towards it.  “Look!”  Makoto looks through the scratched glass of the machine but doesn’t see what has Nagisa so worked up.

“Rin,” Haru mutters and Makoto glances to where Haru is looking.

“Okay.  So Rin is here.  What’s the issue?”

“Look at who he’s with.”  Nagisa hisses and peeks around the machine.  Makoto looks again and spots the now familiar figure of Sousuke standing next to Rin at one of the games.  “They’ve got to be on a date again.”

Haru and Makoto speak at the same time.  “Date?”  Haru asks.

“Again?” Makoto wonders.

“Yeah Rei-chan and I saw them the other day at that cafe near the mall.  They were all clingy and giggling.”

Makoto steps away from the machine and frowns down at Nagisa.  “Why are you following Rin around?”

“Rinrin needs our protection.”

“Makoto.  Haru.  Nagisa.  What a surprise.”  Rin’s voice interrupts whatever Makoto might have said to Nagisa.  He winces a little because Rin sounds irritated.  But he looks relaxed enough with a stuffed bear under one arm and a bunch of sparkly trinkets in the other.  Nagisa starts to say something but Rin shakes his head.  “Here,” he dumps the trinkets into Nagisa’s hands and pats him on the shoulder, “keep what you want and give the rest to Gou or the twins, yeah?”  He heads out the door with Sousuke close behind, stuffed bear still tucked under his arm.

**3 Nagisa and Ai**

Ai shifts nervously as he waits beside the train station.  Rin and Sousuke had left the dorm almost an hour ago and Nagisa had texted him a few minutes later.  He’s still not sure what the Iwatobi swimmer wanted with him and, to be honest, he’s not sure he really wants to find out.  He’s still got at least an hour’s worth of  history homework to finish and that’s usually best done before Momo decides to claim the bottom bunk as his for an evening nap.  In a blur of motion Nagisa is suddenly running towards him and he links his arm through Ai’s in an instant.

“Let’s go!”

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to eat.”  Nagisa answers matter of fact.

“You came all the way here just to eat?”

“You’ll understand when we get there.”

Sousuke sighs and Rin looks up from the menu with a questioning look.  “I didn’t expect him to infiltrate Samezuka ranks just to spy on you.”  Rin glances to the side and spots Nagisa’s blonde head bent towards a familiar grey one in the corner.

“Personally I wouldn’t have expected Ai to give in so easily.  Even to Nagisa.  Wonder what he told him to get him to come out.”

“You’re not more curious as to how Hazuki keeps finding us?”  Rin laughs and Sousuke just smiles at him.  He could listen to Rin’s laugh all day it seems.

“Nah.  It’s Nagisa.  There are some things it’s better not to question.”  Rin taps Sousuke’s hand with the menu and points to something inside.  “What I would like to question is if dessert is included in this not date date you’re taking me on?”

“I told you it wasn’t a date.  I just wanted to eat something not dorm food.”

“And I agreed.  So.  Do I get dessert?  I don’t do sweets much but this actually looks good.”  Sousuke leans in and looks at Rin’s menu and nods.

“Fine.”

Nagisa slaps eagerly at Ai’s wrist with his menu and Ai frowns.  “Look Ai-chan!  Look!”  Rin and Sousuke are leaning in close looking at one menu and Ai frowns further.

“I don’t think we should be spying on them.  Is this really why you texted me?”

“Aw come on Ai-chan.  Isn’t it exciting?”

“Rin-senpai will kill me if we get caught.”  Rin laughs and Ai looks over in time to see him blushing and smacking Sousuke with his menu.

“So we don’t get caught.”

**4 Nagisa and Gou**

The doorbell rings and Rin frowns at the noise.  “I thought you said it was just us three today?”  Gou shrugs her shoulders and untangles herself from the couch where she, Rin and Sousuke had been sprawled.

“I thought it was.”  A minute later she returns from the door with, surprise, Nagisa trailing along behind her.  He’s pouting and sniffling and whining.

“And then Mako-chan was busy and Haru-chan wouldn’t open the door and Rei-chan told me he was busy too and I just-”  Gou makes a vaguely sympathetic noise and flops back onto the couch, sandwiching herself between the two Samezuka swimmers.

“You just wanted to come and bother me.”

“No.  I didn’t wanna be alone.  I was bored.”

“Oh I’m glad to see I’m a cure for boredom.”

“It’s not like that Gou.”

“Kou,” she instantly snaps back and she glares at Nagisa while he blinks innocently back.

“Please just sit down and shut up.  We’re watching a movie.”  Rin gestures to the paused screen and Nagisa’s eyes light up.

“Oh I’ve been wanting to see this!”  He glances around the room for a moment and then at them on the couch.  Sousuke just stares at him but Rin sighs and scoots closer towards the center to make room on the edge next to him.  “Thanks Rin-chan!”  Nagisa drops onto the couch and wriggles himself comfortable.

“Are we all ready now?”  Sousuke asks.  He gives Rin a look and Rin shrugs.  It’s not like he can really control Nagisa.

**5 Nagisa and Momo**

“How did you find my room?  How did you even get in here?”  Momo had opened the door to find Nagisa standing there with a huge grin on his face.

“Details that aren’t important.  What’s important is this: do you want to know what Sou-chan and Rin-chan have been getting up to?”  Momo blinks and then glances at the door across the hall.

“What they’ve been getting up to?”

“Yeah.”

“They’ve been up to something?”

“Yeah.  Don’t you want to know what?  What if it’s something super important.  What if it’s Rin leaving again?  Don’t you want to know?”

Nagisa had Momo’s attention at the mention of Rin leaving.  He had heard the stories about when Rin had left for Australia and he didn’t want to risk losing his awesome captain if there was something he could do.  “Yeah!”  Momo shuts the door behind him and gestures for Nagisa to lead the way.  “Let’s go!”

Nagisa leads Momo through the building and across the grounds to the pool.  Momo doesn’t even question why or how Nagisa knows his way around Samezuka so well.  Rin had mentioned before that Nagisa was smarter than he seemed and very crafty.  They slip through the locker room and peek around the door to the pool.  Rin is doing laps and Sousuke is standing at the edge of the pool timing him.

“He’s just swimming.”  Momo whispers.

“Just wait.”  They watch as Rin continues doing laps with Sousuke glancing down at the watch with each turn.  Eventually Rin reaches the edge and stands in the water with a groan.

“Well?”

“Improvement.”

“Your kind words of encouragement and praise lift my heart.”  Sousuke simply grunts at Rin’s teasing and holds out his hand to pull the captain from the water.  He shifts his hand to grasp Rin’s wrist and pulls him into his arms.

“You’re doing great and you don’t need me to tell you that.”

Rin wraps his arms around Sousuke’s neck and tugs his face closer.  “I like to hear it though.”  He whispers before pulling Sousuke into a kiss.  One that is much too short.

“I knew it!”  Nagisa yells and stumbles out of the locker room.  Momo falls out behind him and Rin would be upset if it wasn’t Nagisa and Momo and if Momo didn’t look so scandalized by what he had just seen.  “I knew you two were dating.  I knew it knew it knew it.”

“I don’t even want to know how you managed to get yourself onto Samezuka grounds.”

Nagisa ignores Rin and zeroes in on Sousuke, who still has his arms around Rin’s waist.  “Listen up.  Rinrin is a very kind hearted person.  He’s sweet and likes to pretend he’s a big meanie but he’s really a big softy.”  Rin blushes and starts to say something but Nagisa just keeps talking.  “So you better be good to him and if you hurt him there will be consequences.  Severe consequences.  I know people who know things about making people disappear.  Are we clear?”

After Sousuke agrees Nagisa stalks off with Momo behind him, still slightly shocked at having just witnessed his captain and his captain’s best friend kissing.  Sousuke lets out a sigh.  “See?”

“See what?”

“He kind of scares me.”

“Don’t be worried about him.”

“Why not?”

“Because if you hurt me Gou will get to you first.”


	13. Fake It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> abaddon-queen asked: SouRin #7 o u o  
> 7 - fake relationship au

Sousuke figured that one day before too long he’d have to give one of the siblings their money back.  It wasn’t his fault that the same day she had walked in, full of confidence and grace befitting a goddess, and dropped his usual fee on the desk with a list of instructions and talked business was the same day he got an email, somewhat awkwardly worded and frustrated, with the same fee ready to be transferred into his account from him.  The Matsuoka siblings would be the death of him.

Rin shifts nervously on the couch next to him and gives him a quick glance.  It’s the fourth one the past thirty seconds and Sousuke can’t help the sigh that slips out.  ”Something bothering you?”  Rin opens his mouth to respond and Sousuke grins.  ”Something specific?”

"Not really."  Rin pouts.  "It’s just been a little while since I actually, you know," he gestures at himself and then Sousuke and then waves his hand in the air and turns back to the movie they’d been watching, "never mind."

"Dated?"

"Shut up."

"Hey relax would you?  It’s been awhile since I’ve been out with another guy myself."  Rin turns back to him with a curious expression.  It’s so adorable that Sousuke is sure he’s going to regret sharing this information.  It’s business and he usually tries to keep the actual details of the business end of things off the table during the dates.  But Rin is just staring at him, waiting for something, and he caves.  "Most of the time it’s girls wanting a date.  In fact I don’t think I’ve ever had a male client.  It’s easier for me that way actually."

It’s obviously the wrong thing to say to Rin because he scoots even further away from Sousuke on the couch which, to be honest, he hadn’t realized was possible, and glares at him.  ”So going out with guys is a problem with you?”

"No.  Going out with girls is easier for my hired dating business.  Because I don’t get attached."  Rin eyes him warily and turns his head away a little, still clearly not understanding the point.  Sousuke slaps his hand to his face and groans.  "I’m gay.  I like guys.  Therefore I normally only have female clients so I am not attracted to them and therefore things are not complicated."  Rin blinks at him for a moment and then a flush hits his cheeks so fast that Sousuke reaches out to check if he’s imagining things.

Rin leaps up off the couch and backpedals into the kitchen.  ”Look I know Gou paid you too so you really don’t have to do this.  I know it’s stupid and pathetic but I figured if I got a date she’d quit harping me and she probably figured that if I got a date I’d stop being so harsh with her date choices.”  Sousuke hears Rin fumble through the cupboards and get himself a drink of water before taking a ragged breath.  ”So let’s just forget any of this happened.  You can back out of this and keep the fee.  No big deal.  You don’t date guys for your business so let’s drop this now before things get complicated.”

Sousuke hooks his arms over the back of the couch and watches Rin pace the length of the kitchen.   _Before things get complicated?_

Too late.

"Rin," he calls out softly and Rin freezes.  Sousuke smiles and flops back onto the couch properly.  "Just come back and finish the movie with me.  We’ll have to start it over."  He is almost afraid that Rin is going to ignore him and hole away somewhere else in the apartment until Sousuke leaves.  But he waits patiently until Rin finally steps back around the couch and drops back onto his spot with an indignant huff.  Sousuke restarts the movie and leaves his arm across the back of the couch which gets him a raised eyebrow from Rin but no comment.

By the end of the movie Rin is curled up against his side, eyes glued to the screen.  Sousuke acknowledges that things were complicated the moment the Matsuokas appeared in his life… and that’s alright with him.  Maybe a little complication wasn’t a bad thing.


	14. Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: 83. breakfast Sourin?

Sunlight stabs Rin’s eyelids and he groans as he rolls onto his stomach to bury his head under his pillow.  Not only did Sousuke conveniently forget to shut the curtains again Rin had obviously slept much later than planned.  The sun usually didn’t manage to hit his side of the bed until well past nine.  This was prime ten-thirty going on eleven sunlight he had warming his back and he isn’t as thrilled about it as some people might be. _  
_

Some people mostly being the giant cat of a person he has sprawled out next to him.

"Sousuke." Rin mutters, voice muffled under his pillow as he prods Sousuke with his foot.  "Shut the curtains."  He twists a little and manages to bend himself enough to poke his toes into Sousuke’s side.  "Seriously shut the damn curtains."  Sousuke shifts and mumbles something incomprehensible and Rin thinks that he’s accomplished something at least.

What he accomplished is Sousuke rolling over and flopping himself into the patch of sunlight.  Right on top of Rin.  Rin slaps weakly at Sousuke’s sides as Sousuke snuggles down onto him and gets one arm wrapped under Rin’s stomach.  The other one is stretched out next to Rin’s head and he resists the urge to just bite it.  The urge grows as Sousuke nuzzles his nose into Rin’s neck and pushes the pillow off his head.  His head is, thankfully, turned away from the window.  Sousuke sighs and Rin shivers at the warm breath against his skin.

"You have a damn body pillow for a reason," Rin mutters.  He’s all for cuddling and personally still can’t sleep without a pillow or two to curl up with.  But this whole sprawling on top of him and using him for a full sized body pillow was getting a touch ridiculous.  He fidgets and shifts until he’s managed to move enough that all of Sousuke’s weight wasn’t pressing him into the mattress.  This only seems to encourage the use of him as a pillow and he easily finds himself on his side pulled against Sousuke’s chest with Sousuke’s legs tangled in his own.  "Sousuke," he wines.  "I still want to jog before it gets too hot out."

No response other than a nuzzle to his hair.

"Sousuke," he tries again, "I really need to get up.  I have to go to the bathroom."  He’s obviously in love with a damn asshole because the response this time is a squeeze of Sousuke’s arm around his waist and if he really did have to pee he would have been in trouble.

Okay.  Last resort.  Otherwise he’ll apparently be stuck in bed all day.  Which wouldn’t be horrible if Sousuke was at least awake and  _willing_  to be doing something.  But no.  Sousuke is content to laze and nap and Rin is not in the mood for playing pillow to a giant lazy cat today. “Sou,” he practically coos and he can feel Sousuke’s interest perk up in the way he tenses ever so slightly and the breath on Rin’s neck catches.  ”If you let me up I’ll make you breakfast.”  Sousuke hums a response against Rin’s neck.  ”Yeah.  I’ll even wear that apron you bought me.”

"What else?"

"What?"

"What else you got for me?"  Rin tries to pull away now that he knows for sure Sousuke is awake and just screwing around but Sousuke refuses to let him go and Rin sighs.  "You gonna come back and feed it to me?"

"Breakfast in bed?"  He can feel the smile, large and childish and eager, against his neck.

"Yeah.  I like breakfast in bed."

"You’ll just pull me in again and then want to sleep all day and I don’t want to do that today."  The grin is gone and a pout is in it’s place.  Rin doesn’t even have to see Sousuke’s face to be able to see these changes clearly in his mind.  "Plus.  If you stay in here you won’t see me in the apron.  You know my standing on that."

"The apron is for the kitchen only," Sousuke pouts.  "But it’s such a good apron for-"

"You have my terms.  Let me up and I cook you breakfast in the apron."

"If I don’t?"

"No breakfast and no apron.  For at least a month."

"…. fuck."  The arm around Rin’s waist loosens.  He stays where he is for a minute, pressed tightly against Sousuke’s chest, before rolling away and off the bed.

"Breakfast first.  We can do that later."


	15. Need You Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> autumn-azalea asked: SouRin and "I just really need to have you here right now." or "Shit, are you bleeding?!"?

The apartment is nearly silent except for the fan whirring steadily in the corner, barely moving the too hot air, and the buzz of his phone vibrating across the table with an incoming call.  Sousuke rarely turns the volume off these days and he never shuts it off it he can help it.  But it had been a long day at the end of a long week and he had planned on nothing more than a solid ten to twelve hours of sleep when he had finally trudged into his apartment that morning.  He rolls off his couch and it’s probably saying something that he doesn’t even think twice about the fact he never actually made to his bed.  In a show of extreme laziness that his body will hate him for later he shuffles over to the table on his knees and grabs the phone.  A quick glance shows him that it’s Rin and that it’s later than he thought it was but not nearly late enough.

He swipes to accept the call.  ”Rin?”  His partner should have been home hours ago.  They had turned in the last of their reports and paperwork and had parted ways, both intending to go home and sleep as much as possible during their three day mini vacation they were both getting.  ”I thought you were going home and sleeping.”  He can hear muffled sounds of people and things clanging around and he holds the phone tight against his ear.  ”Where are you?”

"Well I was on my way home and I realized I was out of food so I decided to stop at that little convenience store near the corner."

"Okay.  That doesn’t explain the phone call or the fact that it’s like five hours since we saw each other."

"Well I kind of had an accident."  Sousuke is on his feet and back into his shoes in couple of seconds.

"What happened?  Where are you?"  There’s a muffled sound and Rin curses.  "Shit are you hurt?  Are you bleeding?  Where am I going?"  He yanks open the door and nearly trips over Rin.  Sousuke looks from Rin to the phone in his hand and back again.  "Rin?"

Rin pouts up at Sousuke.  ”I, uh, lost my keys somewhere.”  He bends down to pick up his bag of groceries which are scattered around his feet and suddenly the noises make sense.  The clanging was the door to the back stairs of Sousuke’s apartment building slamming shut behind Rin.  The muffled thump and cursing was Rin’s bag of groceries ripping open.

"Could you choose a better word than ‘accident’ next time?"

"Sorry," Rin mutters.  "M’tired."  Sousuke pulls Rin inside and waves him towards the living room as he picks up the groceries.  There’s, thankfully, nothing perishable so he just dumps them all onto his counter.  They’ll take care of them later.  "I just was thinking that trying to get a locksmith or somethin’ would be too much of a hassle right now, since it’s a weekend an’ all.  And then I thought of you and just, I dunno, needed to be here with you."  Rin shuffles over and wraps his arms around Sousuke, digging his face into Sousuke’s collarbone.  "Especially after this week."

They stumble into his bedroom together and pass out as soon as they hit the mattress.  The too hot air barely stirs with their breath and their clothes are stuck to their skin.

But they’re together.


	16. Listen to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> abaddon-queen asked: O u O SouRin - “Ever wonder if the world would be better off without you… ?”
> 
> Nonny asked: sourin “Please listen to me-“

"Ever wonder if the world would be better off without you?" Sousuke freezes in the middle of wiping off his stomach with the bed sheet and raises and eyebrow at Rin.

"This is a weird time for that kind of question."

"Do you have a more appropriate time in mind?"

"Maybe some time where we didn’t just finish having sex five minutes ago?" Rin laughs and rolls onto his stomach, watching as Sousuke debates finding a clean pair of boxers. "Is there some particular reason you’re asking this?"

"Wait ten minutes next time.  Got it."  Rin pokes at Sousuke’s thigh with his foot and shrugs.  "No reason.  Just one of those thoughts.  Like in the grand scheme of things would the world be better if I hadn’t been around?"

Sousuke settles on the bed and runs his hand along Rin’s back, slowing tracing down his spine.  ”Thinking about your dad again?”

"No.  Yes."  Rin buries his face in his pillow and takes a deep breath.  "Shit I don’t know."  Sousuke sits fully on the bed and starts running both his hands down Rin’s back soothingly.

"Hey.  Look at me."  It takes a minute but Rin finally turns his head and looks at Sousuke.  It’s only one eye but it’s better than nothing.  "Just hear me out.  Please?"

"Okay," Rin whispers, voice muffled into the pillow.

"It’s fine."

"What?"

"It’s fine to think this stuff.  You know that right?  It’s okay to doubt your place in the world in the big picture.  To wonder how you fit into it all."  Rin pulls his head away from the pillow to look at Sousuke fully.  "But there’s one thing you should never doubt."

Sousuke rests his hand on Rin’s hip as he rolls onto his side.  ”What’s that?”

"I would never be better off without you.  It’s selfish of me to say.  But it’s true."

It takes a minute for his words to sink in but when they do Rin feels his face flush with embarrassment or pride or just the sheer emotion behind the simple statement he’s not sure.  When he glances away and then back to Sousuke’s face he sees a matching blush crawling across his cheeks.

Rin rolls his eyes and sits up with a laugh.  ”You’re such a sap.”

"This coming from the king of romantics?  Thanks for the compliment."


	17. I'm Right Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SouRin - “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Rin’s not even entirely sure what woke him.  Thankfully it wasn’t a nightmare.  He hadn’t had one of those for months, not since just before the relay, and he is glad.  Waking up in a sweat, breath harsh, Ai’s pale face and silver hair glowing in the moonlight as he peeked down over the edge of his bunk.  It was all like, well, a bad dream.  Cloth rustles near the door and Rin freezes under his blanket for a moment before he registers Sousuke’s muffled voice as he tries to slip his shoes on in the dark.

"Something wrong?"  Rin asks.  If Sousuke is surprised that Rin’s awake he does a good job of hiding it.

"I was just going to go for a walk.  Clear my head."

"Need company?"  Rin is already halfway out of bed.

"Nah I’m good.  I’m a big kid I can handle a quick walk down to the vending machines."

"Bring me back something if you’re buying," Rin replies as he snuggles back under his blankets.  Sousuke makes a noise to show he heard Rin and then shuts the door quietly.  Something had been off with Sousuke the last few days and Rin mulls it over as he falls back into an uneasy sleep.

This time he knows what wakes him up.  Sousuke is sitting on the edge of his bed watching him sleep.  He’s noticed that happening a lot lately.  Sousuke watching him.  During practice, while they study, when he’s talking with teammates or texting friends.  Something about his friend’s stare these days sets him on edge, makes his skin itch for some kind of resolution or confrontation.

"Is there something on my face?" 

"Hmm?"  Sousuke blinks like he’s coming out of a trance.  "No I was just-"

"Watching me sleep."

"Ah, yeah."

"Again."

"Mhmm."

"Why are you watching me so closely lately?  Afraid I’m gonna screw something up?  I think I’m kind of getting the hang of this captain thing."

"It’s not that.  I just-"  Sousuke sighs and runs his hand through his hair.  Rin waits.  If Samezuka had taught him nothing else it had taught him patience.  "I guess part of me just feels like I’m waiting for this to fall apart."

"Fall apart?"

"Some part of me still thinks that when I wake up you’ll come up to me with that smile of yours and tell me that you’re going away again.  I won’t be able to say no and keep you from your dreams this time any more than I could before.  But I don’t want to lose my best friend for years again.  So I just have to be ready to follow you.  And I will if you’ll let me."

Rin sits up and just stares at Sousuke.  He’s almost afraid to break the silence.  ”I, uh.  I don’t even know what to say.”  Sousuke is watching him, still watching, always watching.  Waiting for him to hold out his hand or walk away from him.

Rin doesn’t even have to think about it, to weigh his options.  He holds out his hand and smiles when Sousuke takes it.  He gestures for Sousuke to crawl under the blanket with him and Sousuke readily complies.  ”I’m staying right here.”  Rin fits himself against Sousuke’s side and rests his cheek on Sousuke’s shoulder.  They stay like that and Rin starts to doze back off, warm and content, but just has to say one more thing before he falls asleep.  ”You know that sounded an awful lot like a marriage proposal.”

"You think so?"  Sousuke replies with a yawn.  "What would you say if it was?"

"That I don’t want you to follow me."  Sousuke stiffens beside him and Rin shifts to press a kiss to Sousuke’s jaw.  "Because,"  he kisses along Sousuke’s jaw and chin and cheeks until Sousuke finally relaxes again, "I’d much rather have you beside me the whole way."  Rin settles back down with Sousuke’s arm wrapped around his waist.

The last thing that crosses his mind before he falls asleep is the realization that they’re still holding hands.


	18. Secret's Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 53- Keeping a secret: Sourin?

Warm sunlight fills the cafeteria as the breakfast crowd starts to thin out a bit.  ”You’re hiding something.”  Sousuke states.  Rin freezes with a piece of toast hanging from his mouth.

"I’m what?"

"Hiding something.  From me."  Sousuke adds, as if that clarifies things.

"I am?"

"Yes.  And I don’t like it."  Rin’s pretty sure Sousuke is sulking.  But he’s not entirely sure why.

"What exactly am I hiding from you?"

"If I knew it wouldn’t be a secret."

Rin finishes his toast and nabs a piece of fruit from Sousuke’s plate as he stands.  ”I feel very confused by this conversation.  Don’t be late for class.”  He adds before heading out the door and tossing a wave to Sousuke over his shoulder.

Unfortunately that’s not the end of it.

Rin can feel Sousuke watching him as he leans over his desk and tries to concentrate on his homework.  It’s not like the English was hard for him but he was starting to get a little rusty after being back home for over a year now.  Australia feels such a long way away sometimes.

"What is it?"  Rin asks.  He’s frowning as he leans backwards and looks up at Sousuke peering down at him from the top bunk.

"I want to know what you’re hiding."

"I really have no idea what you’re talking about."  Rin turns back to his homework with a huff.  Honestly sometimes Sousuke confused the hell out of him.  He’s obviously in no mood to concentrate, he realizes when he notices he’s read the same paragraph three times already and still doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be doing.  Thankfully a knock sounds at the door and he glances up at the distraction.  "Come in."

Perfect distraction.  Momo is in the doorway.  At least he knocked this time instead of barging straight in.  ”Hello Rin-senpai!  Yamazaki-senpai!”

"Momo."  Rin answers.  Sousuke nods and rolls onto his back.  Still sulking, Rin assumes.  Luckily Sousuke’s attitude does nothing to dampen Momotaro’s own enthusiasm for life and he bounces into the room like a puppy.  "Did you need something or are you just looking for attention?"  Momo recognizes the teasing tone to Rin’s voice and gives a huge fake pout before laughing.

"I do like attention but I am a messenger tonight."  He passes Rin a piece of paper with a phone number on it.  "Nii-chan wanted me to give you this.  Said it was the number of the place that did the maid uniforms last year and that they’d probably give you a decent deal again this year."

Rin snatches the paper out of Momo’s fingers.  He can hear Sousuke’s bunk creak as he rolls back over.  He had almost forgotten about the maid outfits somehow.  Probably just blocking out the traumatic experience.

"Maid outfits?"  Sousuke’s voice is innocently curious but Rin knows if he looks that mischievous gleam will be in Sousuke’s eyes and a barely contained smile on his lips.

"Oh yeah.  I forget you weren’t around for it.  Nii-chan told me  _all_  about it.  It’s part of the culture festival and the swim team holds a maid cafe and the first and second years have to wear maid outfits and the third years get butler suits.  And it’s really a ton of fun.  I wanted to go last year but I was sick that day so I was stuck at home which was sucky cause Nii-chan said there were a ton of cute girls there.  And I wished I could have seen everyone in their outfits.”

"Really?"  Rin could just smack Sousuke.  He really could.  He didn’t know exactly what his roommate was planning but it was obviously  _something_.

"Yeah.  Oh, Rin-senpai!"  Rin hums to show he’s still listening.  "Nii-chan also said that if you wanted to save some money on pictures this year you should ask Nitori-senpai cause he really likes taking pictures and he took a ton of awesome ones last year of the whole festival and of the cafe."

Rin had been about to pick up his pencil and start back in on his homework. “He what?”

"He has pictures.  A bunch of them.  Nii-chan showed me some last year and Nitori-senpai showed me some he has on his phone just the other day.  The maid outfits don’t look too terribly uncomfortable."  Rin sucks in his breath with a squeak and shoots out of the room.  Momo looks from the open door up to Sousuke’s bunk in confusion.  "What just happened?"

—-

"I hate you all."  Rin frowns as he watches Sousuke flip through the newly acquired pictures on his phone.  Momo and Ai are sitting on the floor with a box of decorations spread out between them, trying to decide what’s still usable for this year’s festival.  "I’m disowning all of you," he mutters.  "Leaving you here and going back to Australia."  He flops onto his bunk next to Sousuke and swipes at the phone.  There’s little intent behind it and Sousuke easily keeps it out of his reach as Rin playfully reaches for it.

"Rin-senpai."  Rin looks over to Ai and starts a little at the seriousness in his face.  "That would be a very mean thing to do."  Momo grabs a pile of streamers of some kind and yanks them out of the box, scattering a handful of glittery stars into Ai’s lap in the process.  Ai sighs and looks pointedly from Momo to Rin.  "Do it and I’ll send the pictures to Gou-san."

Rin stops swiping at the phone.  ”You wouldn’t.”

"Hazuki-kun as well."

Rin and Ai stare at each other a moment longer before they both crack up and start laughing.  ”Ugh jeez.  Fine I’ll stay if you’re going to pull out the serious threats.”   Rin settles back onto his bed, Sousuke at his back, and starts flipping through the catalog he has beside him.  He holds it up and the turns shows it to Sousuke.  He can feel Sousuke laughing behind him.  ”We just need to make sure this year’s maid outfits will look good on our first years.  Especially Momo.”  Momo’s eyes widen as he takes in Rin’s words, suddenly remembering that he is indeed a first year and it’s the first  _and_  second years who wear the dresses.  ”Can’t have our otter looking drab.”

"Nitori will have to make sure to take some good pictures to send to your brother."  Sousuke hides his face in Rin’s shoulder as the glare Momo throws him makes him start laughing again.  "That is if he doesn’t make it in person.  We’ll have to be sure to send a personal invitation."  Momo huffs and grabs a handful of glittery stars out of Ai’s lap and throws them halfheartedly towards the bed.

Rin’s sure that it would seem more threatening if they weren’t all laughing so much.


	19. Tall Tales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> touchingdreams asked: Hmm... SouRin... 1 and/or 5?  
> 1 - This is not the tale you wanted to hear. 5- What does it feel like, living a dream?

"We’ve all heard your story.  The little boy with the determination to chase his father’s dream all the way to the Olympics and come home with the gold.  So, tell us, now that you’re here what does it feel like to be living that dream?"  The question is expected, hell the team’s press agents and whatnot had prepped him and the others with a hundred different variations of the question and drilled a list of potential answers into them.  It’s expected but it still catches him off guard.  Maybe because of the dream he had the night before.  Maybe because the high of his win is finally wearing off.  Maybe because he wasn’t actually expecting to come this far and actually succeed.  There’s a million more maybes in his head and he lets out a weary laugh.

"Well," he starts and he already knows he’s going to be off script here but he can’t stop himself.  "It’s definitely not what I expected.  It’s exciting but it’s also a little lonely here."

"But aren’t you with the rest of the team?"  A reporter asks and Rin smiles.  The team had gotten off to a rocky start, much to the glee of the presses who always seemed eager for a scandal of some kind, but they had smoothed things out quick enough.

"I am and they are great to be around.  But they’re not my sister or my mom, thankfully I don’t know if I could stand being around them twenty-four seven again after all these years."  This gets a gentle laugh from the room and he continues.  "They’re my teammates and my friends, sure, but it’s still kind of hard to be here without those people who pushed me the hardest.  My friends back in high school.  My rivals.  My teammates.  I’m here today because I had them and it’s a strange feeling that they aren’t here too."  After a moment the attention turns to one of his teammates and Rin is happy to let the spotlight go.

Later that night he collapses onto his hotel room bed and stares at the ceiling.  As much as he has enjoyed all of this, all of the training and competing and traveling, he is more than ready to go home.  He misses home, misses his friends, misses Sousuke.  His phone vibrates on the desk and he picks it up with a smile when he sees the name.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself."  Sousuke’s voice is a comfort, even if he is so far away right now.  "So you’re lonely?"  Sousuke chuckles and Rin can’t stop the blush on his cheeks.

"Shut up."

"I saw the press conference."

"Obviously."

"You look good."

"I was bored out of my mind.  I hate those things."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."  Silence fills the line between them and Rin wishes, not for the first time, that Sousuke had been able to be here with him.  But he had his own path to take and Rin understood that.

"You wanna hear a story about my day?"

"Sure."  Rin’s barely listening as Sousuke recounts his day.  There’s talk of some noisy neighbor, a crying baby, really horrible food he ate.  Rin doesn’t catch a lot of the details because he is so focused on the sound of Sousuke’s voice.  The way he says Rin’s name and the way he laughs quietly at something he says as he remembers what happened.  The way Rin can tell when Sousuke looks up as he’s trying to describe something specific and the when he pauses for Rin’s reactions.

"And then I watch your press conference and see you looking so out of sorts and lonely and I just couldn’t stand it anymore.  So here I am."

"Where’s here?"  Rin asks as a knock sounds at the door to his room and he sighs.  It’s probably one of the team’s managers wanting to talk to him about another press conference or something.  "Just a sec."  He says to Sousuke and slides off his bed with a groan.

“ _Here_  is here.”  Sousuke answers with a smile when Rin opens the door.  He blinks a couple times as if he thinks Sousuke will disappear.  ”Miss me?”  Sousuke grins and steps into the room, pulling Rin into a hug.  ”I’ll admit my story kind of sucks but at least it has a happy ending, right?”  Rin laughs and kisses Sousuke likes he’s wanted to for months since they last saw each other.  Like he’s wanted to every night he falls asleep alone.

Like he’s in love and will never let Sousuke go.  And Sousuke kisses him back the same way.


	20. Wrong Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> abaddon-queen asked: SouRin 2 or 9? Idk  
> 2 - How did you fail to notice? 9 - My personal feelings don’t matter.  
> (angst ahead)

Wrong time wrong place or something like that.  At least that’s the saying he always hears.  He managed his dreams, stood proudly with the medal around his neck, and look where it got him.  Standing in front of his fridge at 10 o’clock at night wondering if there was anything edible left in it.  He opens the door and idly scratches one foot with the other as he scans the contents of said fridge.  There’s a container that he’s pretty sure isn’t too old but he peels the lid off gingerly, just in case, before sniffing cautiously at it.  As if one sniff would tell him the precise time it was made and how much longer he can eat it before it makes him sick.  A glance at the calendar, at the date hastily circled in red, and he decides; if it makes him sick it just gives him an excuse to be a wuss and back out early.

He digs a spoon out of the drawer and flops onto his couch, not even caring that his food is cold or that condensation from the bowl is soaking into his sweatpants.  Wrong fucking time and place indeed.

Loving someone and being in love with them were two very different concepts which was something that he wishes he could go back and tell his ten year old self.  And his fifteen year old self.  Hell even his twenty year old self could have used  _that_  piece of advice.  But even with every single thing that he had done wrong in his life he was sure he had been doing that one right.

Right up until he had woken up in the early morning one day alone.

And  _that_  was something he didn’t want to think about.  Even if it was 10:30 at night and he was lounging around alone in nothing but sweatpants with a now empty bowl of semi-questionable leftovers making their way through his stomach.  Fuck this being alone shit.  He had tried, or at least he thought he had, to make everything work out story book perfect.

But he and Sousuke had apparently been reading different books.

 _My feelings aren’t what’s important here.  This isn’t about me._   He’s been telling himself that for what feels like forever now.  It’s a chant to get through the long nights, a mantra to work through the days, background noise of his life.  Loving and being in love.  Wrong place wrong time.  A thousand other meaningless platitudes designed to make people feel better about comforting those who had lost something near and dear to them.  It’s complete bullshit and he knows that.  But what he knows at twenty-eight and what he knew at twenty are entirely different.

Which is why he can look back now and realize just how stupid the whole thing was.  When they were ten and promised to be together in the end no matter what.  When they were fifteen and decided nothing would stop them from staying together.  When they were eighteen and the world was finally in their grasps.  When they were twenty-two and suddenly it was all over.  It was all so silly.  The dreams and fantasies of a overly-romantic child.

One night he had fallen asleep after tiredly confessing to Sousuke.  Mumbled “I love you”s and “you’ll always stay with me”s had been met by a strangely sad smile.  He had fallen asleep to a whispered “I wish I had known that before I gave up.”  It hadn’t made sense until he woke up and realized the apartment they had been sharing was empty of Sousuke and his things.

And now he was staring at the clock on the wall ticking away the minutes until he sees Sousuke again.  Had it really been almost six years?

It really had been and now his little sister is married and he’s sitting at a table with Sousuke, Nagisa, and Rei and is probably a bit more drunk than he should be.  But - and this is the excuse he’s using for anyone who questions him - his baby sister finally found someone to marry that wasn’t a Mikoshiba and he’s happy for her and it’s just the two of them now so they have to celebrate for those who are gone.  It was his sister’s big day and his petty love problems didn’t matter.  The background noise of his life bubbles up from a buzz to a dull roar as he listens to Nagisa enchanting Sousuke with stories of he’s not even sure what.  But Nagisa’s cheeks are flushed with happiness and Rei is laughing along and when they all turn to look at Rin he smiles at them.

He meets Sousuke’s eyes.  Wrong place wrong time loving being in love it’s all bullshit.

Once again he falls asleep with mumbled confessions as Sousuke gently runs his fingers through Rin’s hair.  Once again he wakes up alone.

He can remember bits of their conversation as Sousuke walked him back to his apartment.

_"I thought you were in love with me?"  Rin had asked belligerently as he stumbled down the sidewalk._

_"I was.  And then, eventually, I wasn’t."_

_"I loved you.  I always did."_

_"I know.  But you weren’t in love with me."_

_"I didn’t know there was a difference then."_

_"And now?"_

Rin looks around his empty apartment and wonders to himself.  ”How didn’t I notice it?”


	21. The Things You Notice

It was only in when Rin was asleep that Sousuke got to see the carefree Rin of his youth.  None of the weight of his choices lined his face.  No wrinkles of frustration marred his skin.  Rin was always a sight to behold but asleep like this he’s breathtaking.  Puberty hadn’t exactly been hard on Sousuke but it had descended upon Rin like something out of a fairy tale.  Soft and gentle and kind in all the right ways.  His face wasn’t quite so feminine looking.  His lashes were still impossibly long.  His hair was even silkier than when they had been kids - and Sousuke had thought that would be nearly impossible.  Rin’s lips curled up into a small smile in his sleep and Sousuke settles onto the floor, arms crossed on Rin’s bunk.  He props his chin on his crossed wrists and just watches the steady rise and fall of Rin’s chest for a moment.

Rin hugs one of his pillows to his chest and frowns slightly and Sousuke traces one of his eyebrows.  Rin still has some of the most expressive, and well shaped, eyebrows Sousuke has ever seen.  He knows girls who would practically kill for that kind of eyebrow control.  His fingers brush Rin’s nose as he pulls his hand back and Rin scrunches it at the sensation.  Sousuke brings his hand back and Rin scoots towards him ever so slightly, most likely chasing his warmth.  He was often compared to a heater and Rin was always a baby about the cold after all.  He nudges some of Rin’s stuff out of the way under his bunk so he can stretch his legs out and pulls himself all the way against the bed.  The last thing he remembers is resting one of his hands next to Rin’s pillow and playing with the hair spread over it.

Rin twitches his nose and snuggles his face into his blanket, trying to get away from the warm air of the heater blowing steady puffs onto his face.  It takes him a moment or two to wake up enough to realize that it is not nearly cold enough to have the heater on and even if it was the stupid thing sits on the other side of the room.  He cracks one eye open and the other rushes to follow.  His sharp hiss of breath is the only warning Sousuke would have gotten had he been awake before Rin plants his hand on the other teen’s face and shoves him backwards.  Sousuke wakes up with a squawk as he falls backwards and his knees crack into the bottom of the bunk as his back hits the floor.

"Were you watching me sleep?  Again?"  Rin demands.  Sousuke pulls himself away from the bunks, rubbing his knees with a grimace.

"I can’t help it.  You’re calming when you’re asleep."

"And when I’m awake?"

"You’re….passionate?" Sousuke knows there really isn’t a right answer and finds it kind of hard to look Rin directly in the eye as he stands slowly.


	22. Silly Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rins-eyebrows asked: 12 , Sousuke and Rin?  
> 12\. Insanity

It was times like these that Rin wondered just what he was thinking when he thought it would be a good idea to bring his oldest friend into his circle of current friends.  Gou was charmed by him, naturally, as was Ai.  Makoto had given him a steady look and then appeared to like whatever he saw in Sousuke’s smile and grinned back at him.  Haru had simply stared at him until Sousuke shifted and looked at Rin for help and then Haru had smiled his tiny smile and turned back to the magazine in his lap.  Mikoshiba had already told Rin that as long as Sousuke was good to Rin they wouldn’t have any issues - a bold statement which had Rin sputtering that they weren’t going out  _oh my god will you shut up_ \- and Sousuke had nodded seriously.  Nagisa currently had Sousuke pinned into a corner with Rei right behind him and both of them were wearing matching glares.  Sousuke was simply smiling gently at them seemingly unaware of just how much trouble he could be in.

Rin could only groan and stand up from his place on Makoto’s couch.  Only to be stopped by Gou tugging him back into place beside her and plopping her feet across his lap.

"If he can’t handle them by himself he won’t cut it.  You won’t be able to be around him all the time," Gou stated as she gestured for Haru to pass over the bowl of popcorn.

"But Nagaisa  _and_  Rei at the same time?  I want him to still be my friend after this encounter you know.”

Makoto let out a chuckle and waved off Rin’s glare with a smile.  God he hated his friends some days.  He loved them but they seemed to live to irritate the hell out of him.  Nagisa’s peal of laughter drew his attention and he looked over to see Sousuke now sitting in the corner with Nagisa plopped in his lap looking like a content lap dog as he showed Sousuke something on his phone.  Rei casually leaned against the wall and peered down at them.  By the set of his shoulders and the easy smile on his face Rin knew that Sousuke had passed whatever crazy test they had made up for him.

If Sousuke was still willing to hang around after meeting this crazy conglomeration of weirdos he called his best friends then maybe he would have to reconsider Seijuro’s assessment of him.

If Sousuke would be interested in it, that is.


	23. MakoSouRin - Broken Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> abaddon-queen asked: MakoRin 25? MakoSouRin 4? AHAHAHA SOURIN 16 AHHAHAHAHAA SOBS  
> 25 - sunlight, 4 - irresistible, 16 - broken wings

Sousuke rolls out of bed and stretches, wincing when his shoulder twinges on his way to the bathroom.  It was already late morning and he knew Rin would be pounding at his door soon.  It’s not that he didn’t appreciate Rin’s concern or his offers of early morning jogging companionship or his dragging Sousuke out for lunches and dinners and the occasional drink.  He did.  Really.  He just also appreciates the chance to sleep in on a Saturday morning and stuff his face with junk food all day if that’s what he wants.  The hot shower loosens most of his muscles and eases away the aches but he still opts to dry his hair with his left hand and he simply decides to do without even putting a shirt on.  Rin would have to drag him out of the apartment shirtless if he wanted him to leave today.

Sure enough he’s in the middle of brushing his teeth when the familiar pounding on his door echoes through his apartment.  He was lucky his neighbors didn’t really care about things like loud noises and obnoxious best friends knocking far too forcefully on his door.  He pads down the hallway with the toothbrush hanging from his mouth, unlocking and opening the door even as Rin’s knuckles are swinging forward, and turns around without a word.  Rin stumbles forward, cursing at him, and he hears another person laughing quietly as Rin tries to regain his balance.  Sousuke glances over his shoulder and sees Makoto standing behind Rin.  He gives him half a wave before ducking back into the bathroom to finish his morning routines.

"It’s almost eleven Sousuke."  Rin says as he props a hip in the doorway and watches his friend rinse his mouth out and toss his toothbrush back onto the sink.

"What’s your point?"

"You’re just now getting up?"

"I like sleeping on the weekends Rin."

"Lazy ass."  Rin mutters as Sousuke nudges him out of the way and wanders to his kitchen, Rin right behind him.

"You’re just jealous that my ass looks this good without all the jogging and exercise you have to do to keep yours in shape."  Rin nearly trips over his own feet and Makoto once again laughs softly as he reaches out to steady him.  "So how’d he suck you into coming over here today?"  Sousuke digs through his cupboard until he sees his favorite box of cereal and pulls it out.  He pours a bowl and dumps in some milk while waiting for Makoto to answer.

"Um well I stayed over at Rin’s last night and I’m free today so he suggested we stop by and see you."  Sousuke finishes his cereal while Rin and Makoto have some kind silent conversation.  It’s funny to watch because the longer it goes on the more they both start blushing, especially when one of them glances towards him and sees him staring back at them.

"So."  They both jump a little when he lets his spoon clatter into his bowl.  "How long have you been, uh,  _staying over_  at Rin’s?”

"A few weeks," Makoto replies even as Rin lets out an irritated "That doesn’t matter."

"Man Rin you had him," Sousuke gestures to Makoto who, naturally, blushes even more, "in your bed and you still woke up early to jog and come see me?  Priorities.  You need to rethink yours."  Sousuke leans back in his chair as Rin starts to bluster his way through some half-assed excuse about visiting him and he rolls his shoulder a little as he half listens.  It’s still pretty sore so he must have rolled over onto it for part of the night.

"Are you alright?"  Makoto asks quietly and Rin is instantly quiet, eyes darting from Sousuke’s face to his shoulder and across his chest, searching for injuries.  Rin steps over and reaches for his shoulder but Sousuke swats his hand away and gives him an irritated look.

"I’m fine.  I just slept funny and I’ve only been awake a half hour because  _someone_  just has to come and pester me at ungodly early hours on my weekends off so I haven’t had time to work the kinks out.”

"You were using your left hand to brush your teeth."  Rin says softly and Sousuke can see the wheels turning in his head.

"Yeah I do that sometimes.  Sometimes I even jerk off with my left hand too."  Rin ignores the comment and Sousuke knows he’s in for it now.  His lewd comments are usually the easiest way to distract Rin and fluster him enough to forget whatever he was trying to get out of Sousuke.

"And you didn’t bother with a shirt."

"Cause it’s my day off and I don’t want to wear one?"

"How bad is it?"

"I told you I’m fine.  I just need more than a half hour awake and a ten minute shower okay?  Stop acting like I’m broken or something."  He stands with a huff and tosses his dishes into the sink before shoving his cereal box back in the cupboard.  Suddenly he’s not in the mood for a second helping of the sugary cereal.  He heads for the living room only to find himself turned towards his bedroom and pushed face first onto his mattress.  "What the hell are you doing?"

"Just shut up and let your friends help you okay?"

"What are you-" He feels a warm hand press between his shoulder blades and fingers dig into the muscles just under his neck and he groans, "fuck."

"Do you ever relax?"  Rin works gently across his shoulders for a couple minutes and Sousuke wants to come back with some comment about how he would relax more if he wasn’t constantly being hounded about jogs and lunches but he’s too distracted with keeping himself from drooling into his own pillows to manage it.  A few minutes later the mattress sinks as Rin scoots up and runs his fingers through Sousuke’s hair.  A new pair of hands, bigger and warmer, settle against his lower back and he tenses.  It’s not that he’s bothered by Makoto’s touch it’s just that he’s pretty sure they’ve never really exchanged more than a couple friendly handshakes and he’s not used to such large hands pressing against his skin.

Rin hops off the bed and yanks open the curtains earning a hiss from Sousuke and a quiet laugh from Makoto as he buries his head under his pillows.  It’s warm sprawled out in the sun and Makoto’s weight against his thighs and his hands massaging up his back and across his shoulders is just so relaxing that Sousuke just gives up.  He knows when Makoto reaches his shoulder because he jumps at the sudden sharp pain of the muscle tensing but then it’s gone and he sinks back into whatever level of sleep he’s managing.

When he wakes up again he’s pretty sure it’s sometime just after noon and when he groggily reaches around for his phone - he has a bad habit of falling asleep using it and it usually winds up shoved under a pillow or kicked to the end of his bed - he accidentally smacks his hand against an arm.  He blinks in confusion and slowly sits up, squinting irritably at the sunlight coming through his window.  There was a reason he had light blocking curtains in his bedroom and this was it.  The afternoon sun basically covers his entire bed in a blanket of sunlight.  He frowns in confusion when he sees that Makoto and Rin are stretched out on his bed next to him, both asleep.  Now he’s woken up with Rin in his bed before.  Drunk cuddles and nightmare relieving cuddles and just sharing warmth under the covers in the winter.  That’s not too strange.  But the fact that Rin and Makoto both were asleep in his bed when, for one thing, he had a perfectly good couch fifteen feet away in the living room was confusing.

Rin lifts his head from Makoto’s chest and motions for Sousuke to lay back down.  ”We decided a nap was in order and it’s really warm and cozy here.  You get a lazy Saturday after all.  Be thankful.”  Rin yawns and drops his head back to Makoto’s chest with a content smile.  

Sousuke slips out of bed and goes for a glass of water, rubbing and rolling his shoulders carefully.  The muscles feel loose and relaxed he reminds himself to thank Makoto later.  Even if he didn’t ask for the massage he’s not such a heathen he won’t be grateful for it.  He gets back and watches from the doorway for a couple minutes as Makoto rolls onto his side and Rin mumbles something and curls against his back, arm draped over Makoto’s hip.

"I told you that getting up for early morning jogs sucked."  Sousuke mutters to himself as he turns away.  He’ll just continue lazing about on the couch, maybe toss in a movie to sleep through.

"Come back."  Makoto’s sleepy voice startles him a little and he steps back into the room.  "There’s still room for you to come back to sleep some more."  His words are thick with sleep but his eyes are open and clear as he pats the bed next to him.  "It’s warmer and comfier with you here.  ’Sides Rin’ll be upset if he wakes up and finds you asleep on the couch."

"My apartment I can sleep where I want."  He mutters but he climbs back onto the bed anyway.  Makoto was right.  His bed is comfy and warm.  Even more so when Makoto gives a content hum and pulls Sousuke against his chest and snuggles against him.  A moment later Rin’s hand works it’s way from Makoto’s hip to settle against Sousuke’s stomach, just under Makoto’s arm.

It’s been hard enough for him to refuse Rin of almost anything over the years and now that he’s got Makoto along with him Sousuke is pretty sure he’s not going to be able to ever refuse him again.  But, he thinks as he feels Makoto’s even breath against his shoulder and Rin’s fingers twitch against his stomach, he’s not sure he’ll mind.


	24. MakoSouRin - Guardian Angels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: AU where Makoto and Sousuke are Rin's guardian angels (both love him dearly) and one day Rin just happen to be able to see them.

Rin freezes, sandwich halfway to his mouth, and stares.  Two drop dead gorgeous guys are sitting at the table with him when he swears he was alone a moment ago.  He blinks a few times and slowly sets the sandwich down before doing the only logical thing he can think of: scrambling away from the table and down the hall to lock himself in his bathroom.  To be fair it’s not the greatest of plans especially when he realizes he has nothing to defend himself with and his cellphone is sitting on the kitchen counter charging.  Also to be fair he had not expected to look up from his sandwich and discover he was being stared at by two pairs of gorgeous eyes; one pair that makes him think of summers at the park and the other pair reminds him of springs at the beach.

Voices outside the door make him freeze again and he realizes that this was a really stupid idea because both guys looked buff enough to easily force their way in.

"I told you if we got too close he’d see us eventually."  One voice says and he doesn’t know how, but he knows it belongs to the man with green eyes.

"You were the one who insisted we stay close."  The other voice sounds stricter but just as kind as the first and Rin has to stop himself from opening the door.  The voices are so familiar even though he’s sure he’s never seen the two men before.  

"We’re guardian angels of course we need to stay close to him, Sousuke."

"That doesn’t mean we have to sit at his kitchen table and watch him eat, Makoto."  He doesn’t know how he knows that the green eyed man is blushing at the other’s comment.  He doesn’t know why he wants to open the door and talk to them.  He doesn’t know why he feels like he’s known them all his life.

Rin takes a deep breath and pulls the door open.  Two pairs of surprised eyes watch him.

"Hi."  The green eyed man says with a smile that makes Rin think of sunshine and summer and kittens.

"Hey."  Says the other man with a smirk that reminds Rin of childhood.

"Um, hi."  Rin finally says with a nervous smile of his own.


	25. 3AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mao asked: sourin "3am and the fire alarm in our apartment complex just went off let me lend you my jacket while we wait on the sidewalk" Au?

"Here."  Rin only has a moment of warning before something large and warm and smelling vaguely of chlorine covers his face.  He sputters and scowls as he drags the jacket off his face, giving it’s owner a glare.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"  He’s not normally so snippy, ok he is but it’s extreme right now.  It’s three in the morning and he had been sound asleep when the fire alarm in the apartment building had started wailing and he had flailed out of bed with a yelp when his shin met the still unpacked box next to his bed.

"Put it on."  Comes the clipped reply, teal eyes regarding him with mild interest as if he was a particularly stubborn child.  "You’re shivering and it is driving me crazy."  Like it’s his fault he didn’t think to grab a jacket in his haste to exit the building.  He was lucky he remembered to put on his shoes and snag his keys and phone.  The guy beside him makes an irritated sound and grabs the jacket and for a second Rin thinks he changed his mind.  But he simply shakes it once and then settles it around Rin’s shoulders.

They stand side by side for a few minutes leaning against the building across from their own watching the firemen do their thing and Rin slips his arms into the sleeves.  It’s about a size too big for him but it is warm and he can feel the goosebumps on his arms receding.  ”Why bother lending me your jacket?”

Great job, Rin.  Way to put your foot in your mouth and make new friends in your new apartment.  He feels those eyes on him again and tries not to cringe at his own stupid tired mouth’s attempt to ruin his chances.

"I’m trying to be nice here.  It doesn’t happen often so just take it."

"Ah, thanks."  Rin rubs at the back of his neck with a quiet laugh.  "Sorry I kind of suck at talking to people on a good day."  He gets a quiet laugh in return.

"Same here."

"Your jacket smells like chlorine."  Rin immediately regrets his choice of words because, again, way to be suave Rin.

"That would be because I usually wear it when I go to the pool."  Rin’s eyes light up a little and he turns to the other guy.  He didn’t realize there was a pool nearby.

"Pool?  Tell me more."

When they’re finally given the okay to return to their apartments Rin winds up with the jacket “on loan until the next time they meet” and a new name in his phone.

"Sousuke," he murmurs and hears heavy footsteps in the hallway above him.  Maybe moving into this apartment complex wasn’t a bad idea after all.


	26. Drama Rivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: sourin with this au "drama school rivals being cast as romantic opposites because they have “crazy sexual tension” according to their director"

"Because we have what?"

Sousuke is scowling but Rin is pretty sure it’s directed at the textbook open in his lap and not at Rin himself.  Which is good because Rin hates being on the receiving end of Sousuke’s scowls.  Rin’s face is still flushed from his quick jog over to the dorms through the biting wind and he huddles down into his scarf for a moment before answering.

"Because we have, and I quote, ‘crazy sexual tension’ and ‘complimentary features.’"  Rin’s face flushes even more and he buries his face in his scarf when Sousuke looks up from his textbook with a laugh.

"And here I thought maybe we got the parts because we were, you know, good actors or something."  Sousuke turns back to his textbook with a small smile on his lips and Rin strips his jacket and scarf, tossing them onto a nearby chair as he watched Sousuke return to his studies.  He had always appreciated Sousuke’s looks.  He was tall and muscular and had dark hair that made his teal eyes stand out.  But, Rin thinks as he drops onto the bed and digs his own textbook out of his bag with a sigh, it was Sousuke’s laugh that he fell in love with first.

Most people never got to hear it very often since Sousuke was a very serious person much of the time.  He was stern and wasn’t afraid to voice his opinions on basically any subject which made him a fearful opponent during debates.  Rin had once heard one of their classmates describe Sousuke as having a “resting bitch face.”  He glances over and laughs a little.  If only that classmate could see Sousuke now.

He was frowning down in confusion at whatever he was reading, mouthing the words silently as he went, and rubbing idly at his chin.  It all made a very adorable picture in Rin’s opinion.  Then again he was slightly biased.

Eventually Sousuke finishes reading whatever chapter he was focused on with a relieved sigh and tosses his book onto his desk before dropping onto the bed next to Rin.  Rin tries not to let Sousuke’s presence distract him, tries to ignore the slow crawl of heat from where Sousuke’s arm is just barely brushing his hip.  He really tries.  And fails spectacularly, shutting his textbook and tossing it onto his book bag before stretching out beside Sousuke.

"So do you suppose we should spill the beans and tell them that we are in fact dating," Sousuke says as he pulls Rin against his chest and nuzzles into his shoulder, "and that all the, uh, ‘crazy sexual tension’ is because we both live in the dorms and we can’t do anything without risking the entire floor and then some hearing it?"


	27. Mamihlapinatapei

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: Sourin,mamihlapinatapei pleaseeeeee (Mamihlapinatapei - The look between two people in which each loves the other but is too afraid to make the first move.)

He could tell him.  Technically it would be easy.  Just open his mouth and say it.  Let the words tumble out.  He’s pretty certain the feeling is quite mutual, given the way they have been dancing around each other lately.  The lingering touches, the long looks where neither of them wants to look away first so they stare until they both start blushing and something startles them apart.  But the thing he’s worried about is that once he opens his mouth and starts he might not be able to stop.  And then everything will come pouring out.  Years of confusion and hurt and betrayal will come flooding out as well and his declaration of love will be dirty and tarnished and nothing he deserves to have.

—

All he has to do is open his mouth and say it.  He knows they both feel the same way.  The air crackling between them, the heat of each other’s bodies when they sit close together, he knows they are both getting tired of this game.  But what happens after he says it?  He has dreams to chase still, they both do, and is it really worth it to change things now?  Because he knows it changes things, no matter how much people say it might not.  Because after he says it, after the feeling is returned, what are they?  They’re not _just_ going to be friends anymore.

—

But they know in the end they’ll always be friends and maybe that’s all they need for now.

So when they come together, a clash of heat and breath and hearts beating in sync, they hold their voices for now and swallow words neither of them are ready to say yet even though they both know what secrets are dancing on the other’s tongue.


	28. Sleepwalking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: sourin with You sleepwalk a lot and sometimes you knock on my door so I have to lead you back to your apartment. AU , please

Sousuke woke up very confused.

He was comfortably curled up in his bed with the covers strewn about like usual, early morning light streaming in from the window above his bed and warming his bare feet where they stuck out from under the covers.  His pillows were bunched up all funny and his neck was kind of stretched at a weird angle, which really wasn’t anything new, and there was a warm body pressed against his side.

That was the confusing part.

Especially when he carefully lifted his head and spotted hair spread out against his pillows in a shade of red that he could only really describe as maroon.

He did not remember sharing his bed with anyone last night.  It was a weeknight so he hadn’t been drinking, not that he brought people back for drunken one night stands anyway.  He tried to scoot away from the stranger only to have him turn and wrap an arm around Sousuke’s waist with a growl.

"It’s like six in the damn morning.  I got two hours of sleep last night before you showed up.  You are now my personal pillow for at least another four hours so just go the fuck back to sleep."  He stayed perfectly still as the stranger dropped his head onto Sousuke’s chest with another sleepy growl of jumbled words.

He had no clue what the guy was talking about or what to do but the man’s steady breathing quickly lulled him back to sleep.  He woke up several hours later alone and even more confused.

Later that night there was a knock on his door.

"You sleep walk.  Like a lot."  The stranger from that morning said in lieu of a greeting.  "You knock on my door and mumble and I usually just drag you back home and shove you into bed.  But you wouldn’t let go of my wrist last night and I had just come off a double shift and I was exhausted."  Sousuke just nods in acknowledgement, unsure of how exactly to proceed.  "So, uh, yeah.  I’m your neighbor, Rin, nice to, um, meet you?"  The man, Rin, had jerked his thumb down the hallway and Sousuke leaned out to glance at the door next to his.  He could see it was cracked open, Rin obviously planning on just stepping out quick and then going home.

"I’m Sousuke.  Thanks for taking care of me I guess?"

—

Sousuke woke up very confused.

This was not his bed, nor were the blankets twisted around him his own.  In fact he’s not sure he’s ever seen them before.  Morning sun peeked under the dark curtains covering the window across from the bed and he glanced down and could just make out a wave of maroon hair peeking up from the covers.

A warm body pressed against his side with a grumble and then Rin rolled over and dropped his face onto Sousuke’s chest.

"You really need to stop sleepwalking when I’m too damn tired to put you back in your own bed properly."


	29. Showers and Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: SouRin- My shower isn’t working, can I use yours?

"I know this is a really strange request," Rin blinks in confusion at the man standing at his doorway.  He had still been asleep when the knocking had started and was now rubbing the sleep out of his eyes even as the man kept talking, a distressed frown on his face.  "But I live in the apartment next to you and something’s screwed with my shower and I have this majorly important job interview in like less than an hour so can I use yours?"

Rin stares blankly at him for a moment before he realizes he does indeed recognize the guy.  He’s seen him come into the building a few times and had even passed him out jogging on the trail near the complex.  Always with a serious look on his face and yeah Rin definitely remembers those bright teal eyes now that he’s a little more awake.  He just hadn’t realized they were next door neighbors.

"Um, ok."  Rin berates himself for the intelligence of his response as the man gives him a grateful smile and steps inside.

He really should smile more often, Rin thinks as he rubs idly at his cheek with one sleeved hand and debates whether he was actually going to be awake for the day after his neighbor left or if he was going to crawl back into bed.  Ten minutes later he’s still standing in front of the sink in his little kitchen area tapping his foot against the ground as he stares blankly at his cupboard.

The bathroom door beside him opens and he’s hit with a puff of warm damp air that carries some kind of fruity scent.

Another minute later and his neighbor is at the door, sharply dressed with promises of thanking him properly later.

"My name is Sousuke, by the way."

"Rin," he replies with a still sleepy smile.

"Hey, Rin?"  He pauses in shutting the door with a questioning hum and looks up into a smile that makes Sousuke look so much younger and yeah he really should smile more.

"Love your pajamas."

He shuts the door and locks it behind him before glancing down in confusion.  It only takes a moment before his face is bright red and he dives into his bed with an embarrassed groan.  Today’s pajamas had consisted of his oversized Samezuka police academy sweatshirt and a pair of red boxer briefs and nothing else.


	30. Ayurnamat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: Ayurnamat for SouRin please? (Ayurnamat - The philosophy that there is no point in worrying about events that cannot be changed.)

There are many points of contention between the two of them.  Some shallow pinpricks meant to do nothing but irritate and itch.  Some deep slices that are meant to hurt, meant to tear each other apart.  Some shift from one end of the spectrum to the other depending on the day.

This is one of the latter and today is not one of the better days.

"I just don’t get it sometimes.  Don’t get you sometimes."  Rin is grumpy.  It had been a long day that had started when he woke up sore and tired in a way that only comes from consecutive nights of bad sleep.

"I’m me.  Dunno why you expect anything different by now."  Sousuke grumbles back.  He is really in no better shape then Rin as he pads out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist.

"How does it not bother you?"

"I dunno." Sousuke shrugs and pulls a random pair of sweats from the dresser.  "It just doesn’t."  He drops onto the bed with a sigh and tries to pull Rin towards him.  "It’s in the past now.  What good is there in dwelling on it?"  Rin rolls away and heads to the bathroom himself.  When the shower stops Sousuke speaks up again.  "What’s happened, happened.  I can’t change the past no matter how hard I try so I figure if I can just help some people not fuck up the same way I did…"

Rin leaves the bathroom already clothed again and bypasses the bed.  “You fucked up because of me.”

They’ve had this argument a hundred times in a hundred different ways.  They’ll probably have it a hundred more times before it’s buried.

"I fucked up because I was a stubborn teenager who thought he knew better than anyone else and no one really bothered to tell me otherwise.  I was good at hiding things."

"And now?"  Rin’s looking out the window at the stars but Sousuke can tell he’s not really seeing them.  He’s seeing Sousuke’s shoulder black and blue and red.  He’s seeing Sousuke standing next to the pool at Samezuka.  He’s seeing Sousuke sending him off to Australia.

Sousuke sits up and tosses a pillow at his back, then smiles when Rin turns to glare at him.  “Now I don’t hide things.  Now I know better than to think I know everything.”  Rin finally settles on the edge of the bed with Sousuke, settles against his side, presses a kiss to his shoulder.  “Now I have you by my side to keep me from being so stupid.”


	31. Basorexia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mao asked: Sourin, basorexia?? (Basorexia - An overwhelming desire to kiss.)

Some people have a smile for every occasion.  They can laugh and grin and charm their way through a room, giving each person the correct twitch of their lips and tilt of their head needed to have them practically eating from the palm of their hand.

Glancing out over the swim team milling about the room he can pick a few who fit that role pretty well.  Momo, even with his extra enthusiasm, has a way of putting a person at ease with his confidence.  Surprisingly Nitori did as well.  (Rin was still trying to convince Sousuke that it was okay to call the younger boy Ai, but he wasn’t sure they were quite close enough for that so he stuck with Nitori or Duckling if he was feeling playful.)  Nitori’s charm worked well alongside Momo’s.  He was calm and polite and made you feel welcome, easily balancing his roommate’s overeager ways.  Minami was someone who always seemed to look confident and calm and had an easy smile and open face that set people at ease.

Sousuke’s eye twitches a little when Minami directs one of those smiles at him.  People who smile that easily and contently at next to nothing always make him a little nervous.  He raises an eyebrow suspiciously and Minami just laughs and turns away.  Minami’s hands pat away unseen specks of dust from his outfit and he hurries over to help Nitori with Momo.  He doesn’t even seem to be bothered by wearing the maid outfit, then again it’s his second year in it apparently.

Sousuke is glad that he’s wearing a nice simple butler’s suit.  Rin had threatened to put him in one of the maid outfits for at least part of the cafe, saying it was only fair since he wasn’t here as a first or second year.  Sousuke had agreed to play nice and do the stupid cafe only if he didn’t have to wear said maid outfit.

His thoughts snap back into place when Rin comes in and gets things started.  Some people have a smile for every occasion.  Rin has a multitude of expressions.  Somehow he can set you at ease with a scowl just as readily as he can with a smile.  Eyes that glitter with amusement or frustration.  He can make you feel ridiculous with a long stare and then a moment later you feel like you’re at home in his smile.  Or maybe that’s just Sousuke.

Some people have a smile for every occasion but Rin’s is the only one he’s ever really wanted to taste.  He wants to see if it is as sweet as it looks, feels as much like home as he thinks it might.  So when no one is looking he tugs Rin into the next classroom - empty except for the teams clothes and supplies - and takes a taste.


	32. Room Service

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rins-eyebrows asked: Sourin AU where Sousuke works in a hotel and Rin calls down for room service and when Sousuke brings it up Rin gets all flustered and then keep ringing down for more things and Sousuke finds it hilariously adorable

Normally guests like this are the bane of Sousuke’s existence.  The ones who call down again and again and _again_ for the most annoying reasons.  Pillow too hard, pillows too soft.  They can’t find the remote for the television.  They want more blankets.  There’s not enough towels or, as was the case one memorable night, there are too many towels.  Why “too many towels” in a hotel bathroom was a reason to complain he still doesn’t understand. 

But, back to the point. 

Normally heading up to a guests room for the fifth time in the span of just under two hours would have him reaching for the aspirin stashed in his locker.  Or at least have him preparing to stare blankly and try and psychically express how stupid he finds the person he’s dealing with.

These are not normal circumstances.  These are like a fifteen on a scale of one to ten.  He’s not irritated by the guest that keeps calling him up for the strangest requests.  In fact he actually finds the guy adorable with the blush that creeps across his cheeks when he answers the door and the way he nervously pulls his hair into a messy ponytail that simply makes Sousuke want to snag the band and pull it right back out.  His fingers twitch and he almost reaches up to do it.

He clenches his fingers into fists and takes a deep breath.  Which is a mistake because he can smell the body wash the guy used, something kind of flowery that reminded Sousuke of spring trips with his family, and now he wants to reach out and see if the guy’s hair was still damp or just naturally shiny.

"So you, uh, said you can’t get the heater to work?"

"Yeah.  I normally wouldn’t even bother anyone about it but I just got over this nasty cold and I still get kind of chilly easily when I sleep."

"You’re not bothering me at all."  Sousuke smiles and the guy smiles back at him and, yeah, this is so far from normal circumstances that Sousuke briefly wonders if he’s dreaming.  Because why else would he be wondering if the guy’s smile tasted as sweet as it looked if he wasn’t dreaming?


	33. TFLN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nonny asked: sourin + (540): Oh my god I'm in a public bathroom with a space heater. I never want to leave

Sousuke isn’t sure how this is his life.  All he had wanted to do is go to the bathroom before hopping back on the bus he was taking away from his old life and towards his new one, whatever that life was.  He hadn’t really planned out the specifics of it really only knowing that he had needed to get the hell out of town and away from his family before he blew up.

He’s glad he thought to grab his backpack from the seat beside him when he stepped off the bus.  Otherwise not only would he have missed the bus when it left he would have been without any of his few possessions.

It was bad enough being stuck in a public bathroom with a stranger wrapped around him like an octopus muttering something about being warm now and having his own personal space heater.  But to have been stuck without any of his stuff  - no phone, no wallet, no clothes - as well would have royally sucked.

"You, uh, do realize I’m a person, right?  Not a personal heater.  And a complete stranger at that."  He asks as he glances down and sees a black beanie cap covering maroon hair as he feels a cold nose burying itself in the center of his chest and equally chilly arms wrap around his waist and sneak under his coat.

"Yeah but you’re so warm and right now I don’t care."

"Well I kinda do."  He hears the bus start back up and what sounds like it pulling away and he lets out a sigh.  "And I’m pretty the bus just left without me."

"I can give you a ride."

"If you have a ride why are you in a public bathroom complaining about being cold?"

"We’re on a road trip.  My sister kicked me out for awhile cause she’s evil like that and I didn’t want to go shopping with her and her BFF downtown."  The stranger nuzzles his face further into Sousuke’s chest.  "It’s _my_ car.  She’s evil like that.”

"Ok.  That’s weird but I guess I get it.  But why are you nuzzling me?  Stranger and all that."

"Eh you look safe enough.  Kinda like a guard dog."

"A guard dog."

"Yep.  Plus I saw you help that old gentleman onto the bus before you came in here when I was at the vending machines outside.  You’re a nice guy no matter how grouchy you look."

An hour later Sousuke is in the backseat of Rin’s old car making jokes with Rin’s little sister and he still isn’t quite sure how this is his life right now but he’s not too concerned about it


	34. Super Villain Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nonny asked: SouRin "You’re not actually a superhero you just enjoy getting in the way of my evil plans" AU?

The string of curses leaving Rin’s mouth is impressive, even to Sousuke’s ears, and he muffles his laughter in his scarf.  Rin is glaring up at him from where he landed ass first into a pile of snow at the end of his suddenly icy sidewalk.

"What.  The.  Actual.  Fuck?"  Rin hisses as he scrambles to his feet and then windmills his arms in an attempt to slide to the edge of the ice away from Sousuke.

"Graceful," Sousuke finally says when he gets control of his laughter.

"Dude," Rin growls and flashes his teeth at Sousuke, which does nothing but make him smile wider, "you’re not a superhero."

"Nope."

"Then what the- what’s with the," he points to the ice, "and the," he points at the snowbank, "and just, ugh."

"Maybe I’m a fan."

"So you show that by constantly getting in my way?"

"Never said I was a fan of you."  Rin’s eyes flared and before Sousuke could blink he was hit in the face with a snowball.  Sousuke’s eyes narrowed and Rin tensed for a retaliation of some kind.  "I was going to say that maybe it was because I like you and wanted to hang out with you but now I’m seriously reconsidering that opinion."

"I’m a villain."  Rin states, staring at Sousuke in confusion.

"Yeah I know.  That doesn’t mean you’re not cute."  Sousuke slides across the ice and wraps his scarf around Rin in a quick motion before heading off down the street, whistling happily.

"I am not cute!" Rin yells after him.


End file.
